Starting over
by pleasedontjudgeme
Summary: Erika has finally left Tokyo for England. She meets a mysterious boy on the plane. Will he help her forget Koki, Yoji and her old life in Tokyo? Is he for real..? Or does he have a hidden agenda? Will Erika find someone who's right for her?
1. Chapter 1

Erika stared out the window as the plane landed safely in London. Her new life was about to start and she had no idea whatsoever what was going to happen. All she knew was…. Koki wasn't there for her anymore and neither was Yoji. She had to learn to fend for herself from now on. Even though she had moved out of Koki's house a while ago and transferred back to her old school she still missed Koki and the prospect of becoming his wife. But she was hoping that her decision about coming to England was going to change all that. She was trying to take Tanpopo's advice of standing on her own and learning to live. She felt that perhaps Tanpopo was right but that doesn't mean she liked the girl. Erika still felt desperation and anger when she thought of Tanpopo. But a little, tiny, minuscule part of her was grateful to Tanpopo and wanted to be her friend. As Erika tried to push these thoughts from her head she felt the tears brimming up in her eyes again. Frustrated, she pulled on the handle of her suitcase trying to get it out from the overhead compartment. "There were maids for this kind of thing back in Japan," she thought as she pulled and pulled.

"Need help?"

Erika turned around and came face to face with a gorgeous boy with spiky blond hair and enormous green eyes. They were so closed that their noses were almost touching. Erika stared into his eyes and pondered for a moment. "He was clearly European so why was he speaking Japanese so fluently with absolutely no accent?" She suddenly blushed and jumped back saying politely "Oh yes please! It would be of great help"

The boy grinned mischievously at her and said "Can I have a smile?"

"What! A smile?" exclaimed Erika thinking that this boy was completely out of his mind.

"C'mon just smile! I've noticed you throughout the whole trip and you've has this grim, worried but determined look on your face. Now, having all those emotions mixed on your face at once is not a very good look and worrying isn't exactly a nice feeling is it! You're pretty, so act like you know you're pretty! Act confident! Just smile and I'll grab your suitcase. C'mon just do it! We're blocking people's way outta here."

Erika looked around them. It was true, they were blocking the aisle. There was only one thing she could do. She smiled a small smile at the boy and then looked at him expectantly. As promised, he lifted her suitcase out of the overhead compartment and set it in front of her. He beckoned her to go first. "Ladies first" he said gallantly.

Erika took her suitcase wordlessly and walked down the aisle. She tilted her head backward and turned slightly to the side to see if the boy had followed her. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that he had let all the other passengers go first and was apologizing for blocking their way. Before she knew what she was doing. She had backed in between the seats and was allowing all the people behind her to pass through first. She wanted to talk to this boy, be his friend. Maybe even have a friend in London. It could be a start to her new life.


	2. Chapter 2

Wow…. I haven't updated for ages….

Sorry!! I'll do it regularly from now on… hopefully 0

"Oi! Are you planning to live here?! There's more to England than just the plane and Airport you know."

Erika's eyes snapped open and once again came face to face with the boy. She hadn't meant to fall asleep! How embarrassing!!

The boy grinned. "So, were you waiting for me?"

"You wish!" snapped Erika, angry at herself for falling asleep. She had been planning on greeting the boy with the cold, calm and refined tone in which she spoke to all her father's business clients. That would make her seem uninterested…….. she wouldn't want the boy to think she liked him, would she?

"Hello?"

Erika jumped, her thoughts interrupted.

"Don't space out on me like that ok? But then…. You must have a lot on your mind coming to a new country….. or….. are you embarrassed?" The boy's mouth curled into a grin. "You're embarrassed cuz u waited for me! Awwww you're blushing! How cute!"

Erika was not used to this…… she grabbed her suitcase and ran towards the exit. Thinking how foolish she was to even entertain the notion this boy could be her friend.

"Hey! Hey! Wait up!!"

Erika stopped but didn't turn around. She waited for him to say something.

"I'm – T'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you………."

Erika looked at him……… he seemed sincere………. She turned around and said stiffly "I accept your apology."

The boy grinned as soon as those words had left Erika's mouth. It made her wonder for a second if he had been pretending.

"so…" he said.. "where are u staying?"

Erika looked at him suspiciously. "Why should I tell you? I don't even know you!"

He looked hurt. "If I bother you, just say so…. Good luck in England".

As the boy turned to leave, Erika felt a pang of regret. On impulse, she grabbed his arm. "I'm – sorry…. I'm not good with people, I –" Her face burned.

"Hey," he said softly "don't worry about it…" He smiled such a nice smile that she could not help but smile back.

"So…… let's start over. I'm Eric" he said, and held out his hand.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I never had one in my first 2 chapters so… here it is. I don't own Imadoki. If I did I would have paired Erika up with someone in the manga. Even though she probably doesn't deserve it ;)**

_Ok! On with the story that I haven't updated for so long!_

* * *

"Hello?" the boy waved a hand in Erika's face. "Wow, you much be a real thinker. Are you, by any chance interested in philosophy? Or you daydream often? Do your friends tell you that you space out a lot?" 

Erika sighed. Why was this boy having this sort of effect on her? "I – I'm Erika" she said, slightly reluctant to relinquish her name.

Upon hearing her name Eric grinned. "You're kidding! You must be kidding right?" – and when she shook her head – "Whoa! This is like fate or something…! We must be destined to meet! Wow!" Erika stole a glance at him. He seemed extremely and sincerely pleased that their names were similar.

"So Erika – wow I love your name – if you would like to… tell me a bit about yourself?"

"Well," said Erika slowly "I'm here in London to study. This is actually the first time I've been without my family. I'm trying to be independent you see…. – Eric nodded as if he understood – I'm going to be staying with a homestay family. To tell the truth I'm a bit nervous really, because I've had a bit of a sheltered life. How about you? Tell me a bit about yoursel –?"

She was interrupted by "RRRIIINNNGGGG! RRRIINNNNGGGG!"

"Sorry," said Eric "my phone." He held up a vibrating mobile phone. He checked the caller ID. "Sorry Erika I gotta take this call. Can you wait for me for a sec?"Erika nodded and he walked to about 10 metres away and picked up.

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"Hello?"

"_This is Martin, I presume? Or, I should call you Eric?_" said the voice on the other end. It was female.

"Yes. Yes it's Martin. Don't call me Eric. You know I hate it. You don't have to check every time you know. It's _always _me."

"_Have you met the girl_?"

"Uhhhh what girl?" Martin said in a teasing voice.

"_**You know who I'm talking about! Erika Yanahara! Have you met her**_"

"Ok, ok. You don't have to get all scary on me! Yes I've met her. And befriended her. Well…. sort of."

"_Well see to it that you do! And don't forget the objective of all of this! That is all._"

"Hey! Wait! Don't hang up! You're always being so cold! You never call me just to say hi. And we hardly ever have a real conversation." Martin interjected in a slightly hurt voice.

"_I'm sort, really I am. I promise we can be together soon. You know that I care about you. You know I love you. But this is really important. Please , try your best for me"_ The voice was pleading, soothing and soft, as if filled with real emotion.

"Of course I'll do my best. You know I'd do anything for you! I just really, really miss you. I should go now. I love you." Martin (or Eric?) ended the call. He looked down at the phone in his hand as if he could see the face of the owner of that voice. He smiled a soft and loving smile but his eyes, reflected through the shiny surface of his phone, were sad.

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When he returned Erika looked at Eric as if observing him. "Ah sorry," he said. "That was a really important call and….." He trailed off at the look on Erika's face: a slight smile which soon turned into soft laughter. "What?!" he asked, bewildered.

"You know what?" Erika said as she finished laughing, "You have an _extremely _lame ringtone." And with that she turned and walked towards the exit of the airport.

Eric stood shocked for a second. "What the – ? Man. What a weird sense of humour! She doesn't laugh at anything I say, but she laughs at something like this? Hey… Hey! Wait for me!" Eric suddenly realised that she had left him standing alone. He jogged a bit to catch up to Erika and walked with her out through the exit and into the bright afternoon sun.

* * *

_I hope I haven't confused you with Martin/Eric .They're the same person!! _ 

_I'm not sure if my use of relinquish in this chapter is right. If not… please excuse. But I like the word _

_Also please assume they went through customs and picked up their luggage and did all the things you do at the airport when you arrive in a country (sorry I'm so unprofessional)_

_But __there are 2 reasons I didn't include those things:_

_1__) I want uninterrupted conversation and interaction between them to fit in all the things I want to express._

_2) I think those details are a bit irrelevant to my story._

_3) I don't think I'm good enough at writing to add those things AND make my story flow well._


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